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The cause of the odour is believed to have emanated from someone or something in the cabin. The aircraft is back in service

Alaska Airlines

A spokesperson for the company later told Californian television station KCRA: “After a maintenance inspection of [the plane], it was determined the odour was not caused by the aircraft.”

"The cause of the odour is believed to have emanated from someone or something in the cabin. The aircraft is back in service."

After the plane landed safely at Los Angles International Airport, technicians came to inspect the aircraft to try to assess the source of the smell.

The 136 passengers on board were re-accommodated on other flights to ensure they could continue their journey.

The cause of the odour has yet to be determined, reported Californian news site The San Francisco Gate.

Express.co.uk has contacted Alaska Airlines for comment on the incident.

The story follows a similar incident this summer when a Spirit Airlines flight from New York to Florida was forced to make an emergency landing due to a terrible smell.

Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to New Orleans had to divert to Los Angeles (Image: Getty Images)

Some passengers described the stench as being like “dirty socks,” Fox News reported.

Several people had to be treated for symptoms including heartaches, nausea and difficulty breathing, and a hazmat team was called in.

Planes landing due to bad odours are far from rare. In June this year, a plane full of holidaymakers was forced to make an emergency landing after passengers began to vomit and faint because of the stench of one man's body odour.

The flight was heading to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria when it had to make an unexpected detour to Faro, Portugal as passengers became overwhelmed by the “unbearable” smell of the “unwashed” man.

The man in question smelt so bad that other tourists began fainting and vomiting after the plane took off from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands.

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Alaska Airlines: The cause of the odour has yet to be determined (Image: Getty Images)

Belgian passenger Piet van Haut who was on board the flight described the smell of the man as “unbearable”.

He said: "It was like he hadn't washed himself for several weeks. Several passengers got sick and had to puke."

Staff on board the Transavia plane had reportedly tried to quarantine the passenger in a toilet of the Boeing 737 before pilots took the action to divert the flight.

The plane landed in the Portuguese city of Fargo to allow the smelly man to be removed from the aircraft. A picture taken by a passenger shows medical personnel taking the man from the flight into a bus.

Transavia confirmed the emergency landing was due to "medical reasons.” The reasons behind why the man smelt so bad are unknown along with what medical issues he was suffering from.

For Transavia, this is not the first smelly incident on their flights this year.

In February, a Transavia plane was forced to make an emergency landing because a passenger could not stop releasing wind.